On Tayler Hill's first day as an Ohio State freshman last summer, her older brother took her to
the gym. They didn't go to play H-O-R-S-E.

"I took her through one of the workouts," P.J. Hill said, "and she stopped halfway through. She
said, 'My lungs are burning.'

"I said, 'You know what? Go ahead and sit down. I'm going to finish the workout for both of us,
and you'll see how much it takes to be a college player.'"

Halfway through her first season with the Ohio State women's basketball team, Tayler needed a
refresher.

"She hit a wall," coach Jim Foster said, "and I think he had some pretty sage advice relative to
the opportunity she had in front of her, and (told her), 'Maybe you're not working as hard.' That
was good. She respects her older brother.

"I've been (coaching) for 32 years," Foster said, "and I don't know if I've ever seen a kid in
the gym and working it as hard as he does. He's not going to be a lottery pick. He'd be a good hire
because he has a work ethic."

P.J. Hill's work ethic, and his character, have helped sustain him and his sister through a
season of transition for both.

Tayler, a high-school All-American a year ago, has started every game for an Ohio State women's
team that won its sixth straight Big Ten championship and takes a No.2 seed into its NCAA
Tournament opener Sunday in Pittsburgh. But it has been a process.

"In the framework of the team, she's started to play a lot better" lately, Foster said.

P.J., a senior, averaged nearly 20 minutes per game for the Ohio State men's team through the
first two months of the season and started six games at point guard while Evan Turner was out
because of a back injury.

But after Turner returned, Hill's playing time plummeted. He has played in eight of the team's
past 15 games, totaling 23 minutes.

Hill made the most of his minute Saturday after Turner fouled out of a double-overtime victory
over Illinois. The substitute forced a loose ball that became a turnover that David Lighty turned
into the clinching layup.

"Even though we don't get many opportunities, we're into the game over there, constantly
observing, trying to see what people are doing," Hill said. "So when I got in there, it was like I
already knew what to do because I'd been watching for so long."

Coach Thad Matta has said he likes the flow the team has with its four starting guards - Turner,
Jon Diebler, William Buford and David Lighty - on the floor together, and Hill is not one to openly
question a coach who has the No.2-seeded Buckeyes peaking as they prepare to open the NCAA
Tournament on Friday night in Milwaukee.

"I don't really want to mess up the chemistry," Hill said. "We're doing good. So despite the
fact (I want to play), I respect coach and his decision, so I just keep working hard, whether I
think it's the right thing or not."

Meanwhile, he watches Tayler bear the fruits of his labor.

"I get excited," he said. "I work on drills and stuff with her, and if I don't get a chance to
do it, she gets to do it, so the hard work is (paying off) somewhere."

The siblings see each other every day, Tayler said.

"We actually spend a lot of time together. We work out together, but that's not even our main
focus. When we're outside the gym, we're always doing (things) together. I'm always at the house
(P.J. shares with Lighty), and we go to the movies, go to the mall. That's what we do a lot, go
shopping."

While P.J. plays out the string on an improbable three seasons at Ohio State - he was a stopgap
signing out of junior college in 2007 after Mike Conley Jr. left sooner than expected for the NBA -
he dreams even bigger for his future.

He is scheduled to graduate Sunday - in absentia, he hopes, for the team's sake - with a degree
in economics. He wants to try to play professionally overseas. But if that doesn't happen, he plans
to enroll in graduate school and pursue a degree in astronautical engineering.

P.J. Hill's dream is to be an astronaut.

"I've been loving space ever since I was a little kid," he said. "If you come into my room, I've
got the glow-in-the-dark stars all over my room. I paste them on there, paste constellations on
there.